Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
NORTH WESTERN PACKET COMPANY
NORTH WESTERN PACKET COMPANY. The origin of the company began with William E. WELLINGTON purchasing a small steamer and operating between Dubuque and Winona, Minnesota. Organized on November 19, 1863, the North Western Packet Company was led by John Lawler, Prairie du Chien, president; William E. WELLINGTON, Dubuque, superintendent; and George Blanchard, of Dubuque, secretary and treasurer. (1)
Headquartered in Dubuque, the company added to its craft until by March, 1866, when it had ten first-class steamers and thirty-six barges varying in capacity from five thousand to twenty thousand bushels of grain. During the winter of 1865-6 the company spent one hundred thousand dollars in constructing barges. The capital of this company in boats was about five hundred thousand dollars. (2)
The North Western Packet Company annually spent in Dubuque about two hundred thousand dollars; its taxes here in 1865 amounted to $6,981.40. (3) Late in 1865 the North Western Packet Company offered for sale the steamers Milwaukee, Northern Light, Itasca, War Eagle, Key City, Ocean Wave, Flora, Diamond Jo, Damsel, Julia and Lansing.
In May, 1866, the renamed the NORTHWESTERN UNION PACKET COMPANY bought all the property of the La Crosse & Minnesota Steam Packet Company and the North Western Packet Company. (4) This resulted in the company having ten first class steamers and thirty-six barges with capacities ranging from five to twenty thousand bushels of grain. Further purchases of the Davidson and Northern Light lines resulted in the company owning thirty steamboats and seventy-three barges. The shipping capacity of the company was one million bushels of grain every five days. (5)
---
Source:
1. Oldt, Franklin T. History of Dubuque County, Iowa. http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/franklin-t-oldt/history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl/page-26-history-of-dubuque-county-iowa-being-a-general-survey-of-dubuque-county-histor-tdl.shtml
2. Ibid.
3. "The Upper Mississippi Navigation," Dubuque Herald, May 3, 1866, p. 1
4. Oldt
5. "The Upper Mississippi Navigation..."